WE CAN HELP – Stephen Parker, director of the National Academy of Sciences water science and technology board, says his group can take a look at Cape wastewater issues, given time and money.

A matter of time, and money

Orleans — The National Academy of Sciences could study the wastewater treatment options available to Cape Cod towns, but the study might not be what some people are looking for. Speaking at a crowded forum at Orleans Town Hall Oct. 29, NAS representatives Stephen Parker and Susan Roberts said that, given a couple years' working time and a contribution of between $450,000 and $1 million, their organization could produce a review of water quality issues in Southeastern Massachusetts. The study would examine the scientific basis for regulators' water cleanup targets, and would review various treatment technologies, not just costly centralized sewer systems. But the NAS review would be necessarily broad, Parker said, and would not focus on a review of the validity of the data used to create Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) numbers for the Cape's waterways. It could, however, study the general reliability of the modeling, Roberts said. A similar NAS review produced for the watershed serving New York City's drinking water needs was conducted amid “incredible public controversy,” when some predicted the need for water treatment plants that would send ratepayers' bills through the ceiling, Parker said. “We're not interested in coming and giving a thumbs up or a thumbs down,” Parker said. Instead, the NAS report would seek to contribute “something of lasting value” to future discussions about wastewater options in the region, he said. Officials from nine of the Cape's 15 towns signed a letter asking for a peer review of the science behind wastewater cleanup targets, said state Rep. Sarah Peake, D-Provincetown, who hosted last week’s meeting. Chatham has embarked on a 30-year, $300 million project to extend the town's existing sewer system throughout town; it is ahead of most other Cape towns, which are in the early stages of planning their wastewater treatment options. Given the potentially staggering cost of regional wastewater efforts, proponents of a NAS review are looking for assurances that the treatment is necessary and cost-effective. The issue of TMDLs is “a serious business with serious costs associated with it,” Parker said. “We'd do everything we could do in that report to avert bad decision making or arbitrary decision making, with a no-regrets kind of approach.” Former Harwich selectman Larry Cole asked what would happen if the NAS review determined that the water sampling data and the computer models are sound. In that case, it might be possible to conduct the review in less than two years “as opposed to starting from scratch,” Cole suggested. The study would likely cooperate with a planned peer review of the TMDL science, but would not compete with it. “I don't think our governing board would allow us to carry out a narrow, focused piece of work like that,” Parker said. The TMDL science was generated by the School for Marine Science and Technology at the University of Massachusetts in Dartmouth. The researcher who conducted the work has argued that the computer models that generated the TMDL numbers are proprietary intellectual property, and should not be made public, but has agreed to participate in the county’s proposed peer review process. Peake said she and other members of the Cape legislative delegation sent a letter to the president of the University of Massachusetts system, asking the school to cooperate with any county peer review or NAS review of the models. The university has promised its full cooperation, Peake noted. Orleans Selectman David Dunford, one of the leaders in the effort to secure a NAS review, said the Academy is perfectly suited to conduct a study of the wastewater options available to Cape towns. But Dunford warned that it may be difficult to carry out that review without full access to the UMass computer data. “'Cooperate' may mean different things to different people,” Dunford said. “If we got involved, it would be great if we had full cooperation from those people,” Parker said. But if they aren't helpful, the study could still be carried out. “I'm not obsessed with the idea of replicating their computer runs,” he said. A nonprofit group, the NAS does not receive an annual appropriation from the government. Its studies can be commissioned by the government, or by private groups, Parker noted. Of the dozen reviews he is overseeing, Parker said the budgets range from $450,000 to $1 million. This study would likely be in the middle of that price range, he said. To proceed, “we need somebody to say it's time to begin to negotiate a scope of work, and we've found somebody to pay for it,” Parker said. The county selectmen's and councillors' association is expected to take up the matter on Nov. 12.

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